Opinion of Advocate General Van Gerven delivered on 23 February 1994

1 Original language: Dutch.

2 Council Directive 77/187/EEC of 14 February 1977 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the safeguarding of employees' rights in the event of transfers of undertakings, businesses or parts of businesses (OJ 1977 L 61, p. 26).

3 Judgment in Case C-29/91 Dr Sophie Redmond Stichting v Bartol and Others [1992] ECRI-3189.

4 Judgment in Case 24/85 Spijkers v Benedik [1986] ECR 1119. particularly at paragrapll 11.

5 Judgment in Case C-209/91 Watson Rask and Christensen v ISS Kantineservice [1992] ECR I-5755.

6 The Court has already held in its judgment in Case 13/76 Dona v Maniero [1976] ECR 1333, at paragraph 12, and, more recently, in its judgment in Case 196/87 Steymann v Staatssecretaris van justitie [1988] ECR 6159, at paragraph 10, that the term economic activities, within the meaning of Article 2 of the EC Treaty, covers the pursuit of an activity as an employed person and the provision of services for remuneration.

7 Judgment in Redmond Sttcbling, at paragraph 30 (emphasis added).

8 Judgment in Watson Rask, at paragraph 17 (emphasis added).

9 Judgment in Spijkers, at paragraph 13; see also paragraph 24 of the judgment in Redmond Stichting and paragraph 20 of the judgment in Watson Rask.

10 Economic unit is the expression used in most of the language versions of the judgment, particularly in the Danish (ekonomisk enhed), German (wirtschaftliche Einheit), French (entité économique), Italian (entita economica), Portuguese (entidade económica) and Spanish (entidad económica). Business is the term used in the English version, bedrijf that used in the Dutch.

11 Judgment in Case 186/83 Botzen and Others v Rotterdamselle Droogdok Maatschappij [1985] ECR 519, at paragraph 14 (emphasis added).

12 Compare this to the definition which the Court, admittedly in tlie context of different rules, has developed for the concept of part of a business within the meaning of Article 7 of Directive 69/335/EEC concerning indirect taxes on the raising of capital (OJ, English Special Edition 1969 (II), p. 412) as referring to any part of an undertaking if it constitutes an organized whole of assets and persons capable of acting together to perform a particular activity (judgment in Case C-50/91 Commerz-Credit-Bank AG-Europartner v Finanzamt Saarbrucken [1992] ECR I-5225, at paragraph 12).